Marvin is nearly four years old - and the fact his is still around is simply ridiculous.
He’s Araucana + Orpington + Rhode Island Red + Faverolles; apparently the perfect mix for a bird too stubborn to die. He blasted out of his shell in six hours from internal pip, the fastest hatch I’ve ever seen. From day one he was bigger than his siblings, and he’s grown into one of the biggest roosters I’ve ever had.
Right - Marvin, as in 23 November, 2025
He once spent five hours upside down in a tree. He’s slept in that same tree nearly his whole life, and one night he just slipped. Most roosters would be dead in minutes. I know - I held a rooster upside down for two minutes once and he folded. Marvin just came out crooked and carried on like nothing happened.
He’s been bullied by everyone: his own sons, foreign roosters brought in later, even chicks he watched grow up. He was just the quiet rooster in the background while they outgrew him and turned on him. Eight to ten different roosters have hammered him over the years, and he survived every single one. It built something into him. Now he’s quiet, nervous, even scared of bantams, always on alert.
And yet he’s still fertile, still active, still belting out that lovely melodious crow of his. His feathers always catch the eye. He is never dominant, never the flock hero, but tough. The kind of tough that doesn’t make a fuss - it just refuses to stop breathing.
I’m writing this because roosters like Marvin barely exist. Most birds wouldn’t have made it through a fraction of what he’s lived through. He’s earned the crooked leg, he’s earned his place in the flock, and this winter (summer for the USA folks), he’s getting his well-earned orchard retirement.
If he ends up taking a run at the world record for longest-lived rooster, well… I wouldn’t be surprised. He’s exactly the sort of boy who simply refuses to die.
. I really enjoyed reading it. Here's to a long happy life for Marvin
!